The 49th State Hawaii Record Company is a defunct Hawaiian

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

specializing in traditional Hawaiian music. Established in 1948 by George K. Ching, the label was purchased by Cord International in the early 1990s.

History

The 49th State Hawaii Record Company was founded in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, Hawaii by

record store A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...

owner George K. Ching in 1948. The label was named in anticipation of Hawaii's eventual attainment of statehood, though

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

gained statehood eight months before Hawaii, making Hawaii the 50th state. Ching founded the label to answer the growing demand for traditional Hawaiian music in his record store, with the first 49th State recordings released as

78 rpm records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

made using an acetate record cutting machine in a makeshift studio in Ching's own home. Later, production moved to initial recording on tape before later being pressed in vinyl. To guarantee authenticity in recorded performances, Ching collaborated with Hawaiian composter and musician Johnny Almeida, known as the "Dean of Hawaiian Music". Almeida served as the label's music director. 49th State served as a successor to Bell Records Honolulu, which released Hawaiian music between 1944 and 1950. By 1950, the headquarters for the label had moved from Ching's home to 1121 Bethel St, Honolulu. The company, which has been described as "the first, top, most significant, authentic label of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

", was defunct by 1958.

Purchase by Cord International

Cord International purchased the rights to The 49th State Hawaii record company and has restored and re-mastered many of the LPs released between 1948 and 1958. According to the May 18, 2015 obituary of Michael Cord:

"In the 1980s, he noticed that many of the important old-time Hawaiian record labels had gone out of business and their releases were out of print. In 1991,
ord Ord or ORD may refer to: Places * Ord of Caithness, landform in north-east Scotland * Ord, Nebraska, USA * Ord, Northumberland, England * Muir of Ord, village in Highland, Scotland * Ord, Skye, a place near Tarskavaig * Ord River, Western Austr ...
began leasing the rights to those old recordings and digitally restoring them for reissue. Among the Hawaii record labels Cord brought back to life were Bell, 49th State Hawaii, Mele, Trim, Tradewinds, and Gold Coin."

Another obituary for Michael Cord stated that the 49th State Hawaii Records label was among Cord's first acquisitions. The purchase was made in order to restore, remaster, and re-release the recordings, which by that point were out of print and in poor quality. Cord was quoted in the obituary, stating:

"There was lots of noise-hisses and pops- and we wanted the listening experience to be just like it was when these recordings were brand new- only better."

Recordings

45 rpm

78 rpm

33 1/3 rpm

References

External links

The Legacy of the 49th State Hawaii Record label
accessed March 31, 2016
Discogs: 49th State Hawaii Record Co.
accessed March 31, 2016

accessed March 31, 2016
Hawaiian music Collection, University of Hawaii at Manoa Library
accessed March 31, 2016 {{Authority control Pop record labels American record labels